Facile Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin-Film by One-Step Pulsed Hybrid Electrophoretic and Electroplating Deposition

Sci Rep. 2016 Feb 23:6:19102. doi: 10.1038/srep19102.

Abstract

The use of costly and rare metals such as indium and gallium in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) based solar cells has motivated research into the use of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) as a suitable replacement due to its non-toxicity, abundance of compositional elements and excellent optical properties (1.5 eV direct band gap and absorption coefficient of ~10(4) cm(-1)). In this study, we demonstrate a one-step pulsed hybrid electrodeposition method (PHED), which combines electrophoretic and electroplating deposition to deposit uniform CZTS thin-films. Through careful analysis and optimization, we are able to demonstrate CZTS solar cells with the VOC, JSC, FF and η of 350 mV, 3.90 mA/cm(2), 0.43 and 0.59%, respectively.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't